For the third straight season, the Burnsville wrestling team will be represented at state.
Senior Mambu Sonie won the 220-pound title in the Section 2AAA individual tournament Feb. 25 at Lakeville North to qualify the Class 3A competition, which is March 3-4 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Burnsville had a stretch from 2013 to 2020 where it had not state qualifiers.
The top two finishers in each of the 14 weights at sections make the state field. Senior Ethan Lutz fell just short of state for the Blaze, taking third at 152 pounds.
Sonie, ranked No. 8, will take a 32-4 record into the state tourney. He won his section title match by a 3-2 decision over Antonio Menard of Lakeville North.
Sonie won 8-3 in the first round and earned an 18-4 decision in the semifinals.
Lutz had a shot at state but lost a true-second match by fall to Ian Haueter of Apple Valley. Lutz lost in the first round by fall, then earned back-to-back pins in the consolation quarterfinals and semifinals to get to the third-place match.
It was there he got some revenge with a 20-9 over Tyler Sullivan of Farmington. Sullivan was the one who defeated Lutz in the first round.
Other finishes for the Blaze went to eighth-grader Liam Henke (fourth, 113), sophomore Syvonte Miller (fourth, heavyweight), junior Ivan Concepcion (fifth, 120), sophomore Luke Jolly (fifth, 126), junior Ayden Ripplinger (sixth, 132), senior Shareef Oty (sixth, 145), sophomore Jameson Joubert (sixth, 160), senior Michel Douhe (sixth, 170) and junior Erick Estrada Pineda (sixth, 182).
